Wash-basin stopper



(No Model.)

P .R.JOH'NSON'. WASH BASIN STOPPER.

7 0o 00 9 ma u A d e t n e b a P. A 1 7 6 3 nw NIHHIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll I INVENTOI? WITNESSES.-

1 UNITED STATES; PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK READ JOHNSON, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

WASH-BASIN STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No 367,814, dated August 9,1887.

(No model.)

To all whom it mayconcern/.-

Be it known that I, FRANK READ J oHNsoN, a citizen of the United States,residing inthe city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Improvement in VVas'h-BasinStoppers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to stoppers of stationary hand'basinswhich aresupplied with public water. 7

The objects of my invention are to render such stoppers automatic intheir action, and thereby to render it impossible to overflow suchbasins with water, whether the faucets leak or the water (by oversightor otherwise) be left running,and to do away with the overflow holes andgutters of such basins, and at the same time to prevent the escape ofsewergas from sewers and ccsspools into the apartments where such basinsmay be located. I

attain these objects by the simple mechanism illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which v Figure 1 is a vertical section showingthe usual wash-basin and my improvement asapplied to such basins; Fig.2, a vertical sect-ion of my device of full size and the bottom portionof the basin, to more clearly showthe relation of the device to thestopper; Fig. 3, a horizontal section of a part of the device, to

show the means of its adjustment to the stopper itself.

Similar letters refer to si milar parts throughout theseveral views.

A A represent the wash-basin; B, the wastepipe of the basin; 0, thestopper proper, 6 being the eye of the stopper, which, as stoppers arenow used, receives one end of a small chain for inserting it (thestopper) into and drawing it out of its socket in the bottom of thebasin. This chain I dispense with and insertinto the eye 0 of thestopper 0, quite loosely fitted there in the curved rod D D D, which rodacts upon the stopper 0 (to lift it, the stopper, out of its socket) asa lever of the second class, relating to which the point (1 of thebasin, Fig. 2, is the fulcrum, and the portion of the lever D extendingfrom d to the eye 6 of the stopper the short arm; D and D D extendingfrom the eye 6 of thestopper to the center of the float E, the long arm,E being a suitable float attached to the outer end of the long arm, theweight to be acted upon andlmoved by this lever D D D beingthe stopper 0and the water that may bear upon it. Upon the short arm D of this lever,and extending back to about the point (1011 the long arm D D, isprovided a thread, upon which is worked two small adjusting-nuts, d d,and between which nuts is placed and loosely held on the lever the eye0' of the stopper (,the object of these nuts being twofold-namely, tohold the stopper 0 in its place on the lever and at the same time torender the position of the stopper on the lever adjustable to basins ofdifferent sizes.

it is in this position the stopperO is water-- tight in its socket, andit makes no difference as to which side of the basin the float and itsarni'may be placed, as it may be placed in any desired position aroundon the interior wall of the basin.

Of course, the float E may be made of any suitable material-as cork,light wood, Orhollow metal or rubber-and it may be made in any desiredform, as flat, oval, or round.

The operation of my invention is briefly described thus: .When the waterrises in the basin any higherthan by the adjustment of the device it isintended it should rise, the float rises into or ncar the positionindicated by the dotted lines of its form in Fig. l, which lifts thestopper, and thus allows the surplus water to escape through thewaste-pipe 13, instead of its escaping, as heretofore, through theoverflow-holesf f, Fig. 1. NVhen the surplus water runs out, the floatfalls and closes thestopper by lowering it into position, thus retainingin the basin as much water as it is ever intended it shall contain foruse, and cutting off at the same'time the sewer-gas, except when thestopper is removed by hand to empty the basin of all its contents.

By means of my invention above described certain advantages are gainedbesides the general object of an automatic stopper: First, the float isheld at one side of the basin andis thus kept out of the way; second,the lever being curvedthroughout its length causes itto conform to theshape of the basin and to be as much as possible out of the way; third,the float acting upon the long arm of the most advantageous lever, andwith so great a difference between the two respective arms of the same,it gives the float E sueha power over the stopper as to completelycontrol it; fourth, the motion of the stopper is so much less than thatof the float that the stopper is not, in practice, drawn entirely out ofits socket before the water will escape from the basin and allow thefloat to lower it into place, hence it automatically keeps its ownposition; fifth, the float E and lever D D serve a convenience as ahandle (instead of the chain usually employed) for removing andreplacing the stopper; sixth, itrcnders the overflowholesff andguttcrfj" wholly useless, as indicated by the drawings, Fig. 1; seventh,it wholly prevents the escape of sewcr-gas from the sewers, except whenthe stopper is removed by hand to empty the basin; eighth, it preventsall possibility of the overflow of the basin, which is not the ease withthe overflow-holes usually employed, for the gutterff often becomeschoked up with dirt, which cannot be easily removed. Besides, by meansof my device a continuous stream of water may be allowed to flow intothe basin at all times without removing the stopper by hand, whether ornot the basin is being practically used at the timefor personalablutions or for other cleansing purposes, whereby such ablutions can beperformed in a continuouslyruuning stream of clean water, it being thecase that the basin will contain no more and no less than a practicalquantity of water while the apparatus is in position and the water isrunning, whether the stream be large or small.

I am aware that floats attached to float-arms for automatically openingthe discbargepipe of hand wash-basins have been employed, as in the easeof Patent No. 308,307, granted to l\.'fathew T. Deegan, November 18,1884-; also, in the ease of Patent No. 347,390, granted to Benjamin F.Smith, August 17, 1886, in which hinged stoppers or valves are employedand thrown open by the action of springs attached thereto after they(the stoppers or valves) have been released by the action of the floatsfrom locks which hold the said stoppers or valves in place against theaction of said springs, which render said valves automatic only inopening, but not in closing, the discharge-pipe of basins. Therefore Ido not claim, lnroadly, the use of mere floats and float-arms inconnection with stoppers of wash-basins irrespective of the particulararrangement employed in the combination of the several parts; but,

Having described the peculiararrangement of the several parts employedin my device and pointed out the usefulness of my invention, what Iclaim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In stationary hand wash-basins, thecombination of the floatll, lever D DD, andstopper 0, the stopper being loosely suspended upon the lever atthe movable extremity of the short arm, and the long arm D I) I), havingfor its fulcrum simple contact upon the interior surface of the basin,in the manner set forth, whereby in use the stopper is gradually raisedand lowered by the float-lever, and whereby the whole device can berotated in a horizontal circle within the basin and be freely (letachedtherefrom, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In stationary hand wash-basins, the combination of the float E, leverD D D, stopper 0, and adjusting-nuts (Z (1, the stopper being looselysuspended upon the lever at the movable cxtremity of its short arm, andthe long arm I) D D, having for its fulcrum simplccontact upontheinteriorsurfacc of thebasin, substantially in the manner and for thepurposes set forth.

FRANK READ JOHNSON.

\Vitnesscs:

F. G. JonNsoN, O. W. Fiscnnn.

